Hello, I have recently bought a 9 year old female herman tort and put her in with my 4 year old male herman tort. I have done this with the view to breed, but i am unsure if he is old enough to get the job done. I have spent hours researching this and have had no joy. The male is 11cm top to bottom of shell but she is 17cm top to bottom so quite a bit bigger. Can any1 help??

Thanks,

John

Hi John
I am how long did you quarentine before putting them together?
Jane

I would say you need to do a fair bit more research. There is a lot more to it than just putting a female in with a male - she should have been quarantined on her own for several months first and then there are lots of considerations to make, such as the aspect of the garen you are using - does it have a slope, is it south facing, is there a suitable nesting area that the tortoise has been familiar with for some time (not a few days, more like a year), do you have the correct ratio of male to female, are they all in tip top condition, weight wise etc etc.

I'm not sure where you have been getting your info, but a lot more needs to be considered.

Hope this helps.

Sue

www.tortsmad.com

Hi John,

The quarantine thing aside, which is a good point, she is big enough. One thing I would add, is both are pretty large for their ages. I would look to ensure both get the correct supplementation, this would be good for their bones, shell and in particular it will help the female produce eggs..........providing the male does his bit of course.
There is a section on Captive Breeding Under "The Tortoise" on the website. Reading this may help?

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/133.asp

HTH
Darren

Cheers Darren very helpful